Coffee in Worcester: McDonald’s

Time was, McDonald’s coffee was mostly famous for being really hot. I went there today with Bruce to catch up on java developments.

Pie and Coffee: Y’know, I don’t get down to McDonald’s much anymore.

Bruce: I got this five dollar gift certificate up to the Lighthouse Mission. Cause they had their party up there, on the 23rd of December. Their X-mas party. They gave everybody a five dollar coupon, a bunch of toiletries, and shit. I figured I’d be the nice guy that I am and treat you to a coffee.

Well, you’re a hell of a nice guy. Do you go to McDonald’s very much?

No. I mean if they had a McDonald’s a little closer.

So the coffee at McDonald’s is organic, shade-grown, Fair Trade coffee. Pretty impressive.

One thing I have to say about the Fair Trade coffee: It’s pretty fair!

How was the flavor?

Fairly good! Just like an open heart surgery.

What do you mean by that?

Just what I say. It’s like open heart surgery.

I have to say that was an okay cup of coffee. It’s interesting that the coffee is organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade.

Newman’s Own. You can get that in the supermarkets, too. Santiago’s across the street from me has it.

A lot of these places are trying to go upscale nowadays. Wal-Mart was trying to go upscale too, but I think they’ve kinda reversed course.

Joe doesn’t have that.

Joe doesn’t have Fair Trade?

No.

Does he have organic?

No, he just has the regular.

But he has Green Mountain. And that’s who does Newman’s Own, right?

Yeah. His coffee is so much more bitter than this. This is so much more stronger.

The coffee at McDonald’s is stronger, and Java Joe’s is more bitter. Do you like the bitter?

No.

Do you like the stronger, or just a mellower coffee?

I like it strong, but I also like it mellow, too.

So neither of these coffees is what you’re looking for.

I think the best organic coffee was at the co-op in Brainerd where I helped volunteer with Dave. That was the Eclectic Cafe. It always had good flavor. The other one, around here—the Bean Counter has organic too, right?

I think so.

Their coffee is great, too.

The thing about McDonald’s is, and I’m not the first one to point this out, it’s fundamentally a restaurant for kids. Do you remember the first time you went to McDonald’s?

No, I never really went to McDonald’s.

See, I literally can’t remember the first time, because I’ve been going since I was a small child. And so even though they have all this adult-oriented stuff, most of the people in there today, on a Sunday afternoon, were kids.

But no matter how old we are, we always have that kid mentality to us.

Oh, that’s true. I’m don’t think there’s anything wrong with it being a restaurant for kids. I mean, pizza is another thing I associate with eating as a kid. Pretty much the only things I miss, being a vegan, are sushi, which is a flavor thing, and cheese pizza, which is a comfort food thing. To be able to eat a pepperoni pizza and watch some dumb movie was always just such a connection to my childhood.